favourite things

We all have favorite things, people, vacations and we think of them as positives. They are what makes us feel good.

But, what about the other side of the coin. What about those things that bring an "oh oh, I don't want to go there" feeling.

One of my "oh oh's" is dolls. That's right...dolls! I know it sounds strange but it's true. It started when I was in basic training some years ago. Of course I was lonely and missed my girl friend. Her solution was to send me a sexy picture and small Barbie Doll to remind me of her. Stupidly, very stupidly, I put the doll in the back of the top shelf of my locker thinking that it was real nice gesture. I didn't want any of the "guys" to see I had a doll but, I couldn't bring myself to throw it away.

I should have thrown it away because my barracks sergeant found it on a surprise inspection. I could write a book on the harassment I took for the next six weeks.

I was "gay".  I "played with dolls". I "played with myself". I did extra KP duty, one hell of a lot of extra KP duty. I had dish pan hands and  I didn't have that wonderful detergent that fixes dish pan hands.

It's not a memory that is my favorite.

However, one of my neighbors has some kind of things for dolls. He has them all over his back yard and in his yard next to the street. They are in trees, hiding in bushes, and he has a three foot barbie doll
in the middle of his roses he calls his "scare-ho".

No, he is not weird. It is just something he thinks is cute and funny. However, whenever I see one of those dolls, the military harassment runs through my mind.

I have always thought that it's his house and he can do whatever the hell he wants too as long as he's not some kind of pervert and he's not. He's a great neighbor and his yard is the nicest in the neighborhood and has been written up in the local paper.

He just sold the house so he could get a place near the beach and a photographer that stopped in for a yard sale went nuts over the dolls. It seems that the dolls had been weathered by the sun and the rain so well that they were perfect for a photo shoot he was planning.

He gave my neighbor a lot of money (he didn't say how much, but it was "a lot") for the dolls and told my neighbor that he was headed out to the desert for his photo shoot.

Maybe I was to quick to throw that doll away. Now, I'm off to "Toys R Us". I understand they have dolls on sale this weekend. I let you know what my favorite doll turns out to be.

written  for Carry on Tuesday